THE CAST:

The cast is kind of an obscure mix of A-list and B-list actors none of which give ‘stand out’ performances. Gabriel Macht whom I never heard of until this film, is moderately good as The Spirit/Denny Colt. I think given the right kind of role he would be fantastic and blame the poor script instead of his ability as far as this film is concerned. Samuel L. Jackson is not impressive and overacts throughout. Scarlett Johansson’s part could have been removed from the film without it affecting it whatsoever. Dan Lauria who will probably always be known for his role as father on The Wonder Years seems to be or portray the same in each and every film he is in. The other major role in this film was played by Eva Mendes and I have to say I liked her best out of all of them. She was well suited and convincing in the part of Sand Saref and found myself looking forward to her being on screen.

DIRECTION, CINEMATOGRAPHY AND SPECIAL EFFECTS:

The photography/special effects of the film is done Frank Miller style and while impressive at times it would be a stretch to say it was stunning. It remains the best thing about this movie but lacked the ‘magic’ of Sin City. The production budget for this film is somewhat of a secret and I am assuming they did not want the public to know how big of a box office bomb this was. The budget was rumored to be somewhere around $40 million and if you take into consideration worldwide box office totals ($39, 031, 337), it still did not recover its original budget at the box office. Surprisingly this film made almost as much money with DVD sales (approximately $19,125,621) as it did domestically at the box office ($19,806,188).

The Spirit is directed by Frank Miller who is known best for his prior achievements 300 and Sin City. Taking his prior films into consideration one can only be disappointed by this one. Even though it is obvious he took a lot of care in directing the film, the writing (he wrote the screenplay as well) leaves a lot to be desired.

THE GOOD:

The best thing about The Spirit is the visuals. Had the movie been filmed any differently it would be unwatchable. It is done Frank Miller style and is very visually appealing with contrasting colors making it a lot of fun to watch.

THE BAD:

The Spirit might be a feast for the eyes, but intellectually it is insulting. Filled with mindless scenes of ranting and obscureness which make the film almost laughable. Much of the movie would have been better served relating to the story instead of venturing into just plain weirdness. Then there is the droning, unemotional narrative that is very irritating. Because of the lack of emotion it becomes boring very quickly.

THE STORY (may contain spoilers):

Denny Colt has always wanted to be a cop since he was little but unfortunately was gunned down and killed when he was just a rookie. The Octopus is a half crazy part criminal, part scientist who while working in the morgue decides to test his latest serum on Colt. It works and makes him invincible to almost everything. Denny decides to continue to fight crime but because everyone thinks he is dead he now goes by the name Spirit. Octopus uses the serum on himself as well and becomes Spirit’s greatest opponent. Now Spirit feels it is his mission to stop crime in his beloved city and rid the world of the evil Octopus.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Special Edition DVD

"Green World" featurette

"Miller on Miller" featurette

Alternate storyboard ending with voiceover by Gabriel Macht and Samuel L. Jackson

Audio commentary with director Frank Miller and producer Deborah Del Prete

Theatrical trailer

REPLAY VALUE:

The Spirit has no replay value, once was enough for me. Eventually I may get it out again, but not for a long time.

BOTTOM LINE:

The Spirit is one of those films that if you saw it in the theater and made it through the first fifteen minutes then you would wonder if you should ask for your money back. It does have a couple of fairly decent scenes however most of the film the question ‘What the hell?’ is running through your mind. It is not what I consider recommended viewing but once it comes on cable it may be worth a watch just for curiosity sake.

Thanks for reading.